Who you gonna’ call?

While skeptics deny the existence of ghosts claiming there’s no real evidence, polls and surveys have shown the public strongly disagrees.

A 2005 Gallup poll found that 37 percent of Americans believe in haunted houses, and a Huff Post poll found that 45 percent believe in ghosts.

Ghosts are big business, especially around Halloween.

Last week a team of “ghost busters” made a pre-Halloween visit to Adams County.

On Friday the leader of the Cornerstone Paranormal group, Dave Howard sat down with C103 DJ……… to talk about his team of scientists, teachers, authors, nurses, and other experts who investigate paranormal encounters and ghost sightings in Ohio.

Howard also appears in the I HeartMedia Cincinnati powerhouse radio 700 WLW’s Scott Sloan show known as Dave The IT Guy, a hacker/tech specialist. He also appears on the Weather Channel’s reality TV series called Fat Guys in the Woods that aired in August.

“My episode is called ‘Primitive,’” he said, adding he and the two other contestants were dropped in the mountains in Tennessee with only a liter of water, a knife and a hatchet.”

Howard has also been featured on the show, The List.

Howard has been in the paranormal field almost 14 years. He and his team have investigated private homes and public locations, indoors and out.

There are things in the universe that man has not yet been able to fully explain, and Howard believes that “continual research by those who aren’t simply thrill seekers, and who put together educated hypotheses to test will be among the group who may ultimately find the key to the answers we seek.”.

The dearly departed who do not move on to the mysterious netherworld that follows life, but instead remain to haunt and taunt the living

return in certain situations or under certain circumstances, unable to rest return.

“In environments where human drama has taken place — a murder, death, someone dying in pain, suffering — those last moments of emotional energy are somehow impressed in the environment. Very rarely do you hear about a happy ghost.”

The paranormal team also visited the Peebles Library on Saturday, October 17. The team shared photos and audio recordings from their investigations. They also demonstrated how their paranormal tracking gear works to ferret out ghosts.

One particular photograph is believed to reveal the spirit of Ginny Wade, the only woman killed in the battle of Gettysburg. She appears in a mirror’s reflection, standing behind the clueless photographer.

The Cornerstone team will return to Adams County on Wednesday, October 28 at the North Adams Library at 5:30 p.m. The public is invited to come listen and share their own experiences, discover the science behind phenomena, and uncover the logic of the not-so-sinister. This program is family-friendly, and suitable for all ages.

The following Q&A is part of the “Faces of the Paranormal” series, profiling Dave Howard and the Cornerstone Paranormal Group.

How many cases has your team done?

Cornerstone Paranormal has conducted 200 investigations over the past four years. Some team members have been in the field for seven years or more, so those members have more than 500 and up to almost 750 investigations.

How did Cornerstone Paranormal start?

As Cornerstone, we started in January of 2010 and started with five members. We have 10 now. Our original five members all came from a team we were on before and didn’t like the direction it was headed, so we left and started our own team. Five of us have been together about eight years total.

How many times do you believe your experienced something truly paranormal?

Of the 200 cases we’ve done, we’d feel comfortable with about 10 percent (roughly 20) of the locations having had some level of activity that we cannot yet explain through normal means.

How often are you called to investigate a home or business?

We are contacted weekly through email and Facebook, and accept only a small portion of those requests. We don’t do private homes much anymore, and stick to businesses or historically significant locations for our investigations.

How do people find out about you?

We have a unique blend of media exposure (some of our members have been on television and are on AM/FM radio), as well as high search engine rankings and good Facebook referrals. So I’d say it’s 50/50 online/offline exposure.

What made you want to do this?

Many of our members have different reasons. I came into the field as a skeptic for another team, and while the first investigation revealed what I expected (nothing of substance) the second investigation I was ever on I had a personal experience I could not justify. I really wanted to find that answer, and ultimately found over the years I have more questions and my search continues.

Is this a side-gig for all of you? What are your day jobs?

This is a side-gig for all of us. We never charge to do what we do, and sometimes we even pay or donate money to a site so we can research it. We have a certified ethical hacker, an ER nurse, an art teacher, a nanny, a graphic artist, a college student studying biomechanics, another IT guy, a warehouse person, a master electrician and a soon to be published PHD historian on our team.

Do people ever mock you for doing this and believing in the paranormal?

Many years ago before the TV craze people would look at you with a raised eyebrow and just dismiss you as a kook. Now with the para-TV craze, we get people contacting us saying, “I’ve always wanted to, can I go with you?” For the others who still disbelieve, I tell them they’re entitled to believe what they want. But if I could have them for a few investigations, they are likely to have some experience even the most jaded cannot explain. Then I invite them to come along.

What was your scariest experience working in this business?

We were at the Mansfield Reformatory and while up high in the prison tiers, we could hear cell doors closing right next to us. We could hear voices that we couldn’t make out the words, and what sounded like footsteps. By far the most active place I’ve ever experienced.

Have you ever needed to use a demonologist or an exorcist?

We’ve had folks who believe a demonologist or exorcist was needed, but the criteria for those types of people is very high. Unfortunately, there are many fakes and flakes who will state they experience demons every day and they’ve exorcised thousands in a few short years. Our team has never had such an experience that we thought we needed such a person.

In your opinion, what’s the single most haunted place in the Tri-State region?

With our total level of experience, we would say the Heritage Village in Sharon Woods (video, audio, physical reactions and several other teams corroborating it) and Arnold’s Bar and Grill is a very close second.

Dave Howard of Cornerstone Paranormal talks with visitors to the Peebles Public Library.

http://www.peoplesdefender.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Paranormal.jpgDave Howard of Cornerstone Paranormal talks with visitors to the Peebles Public Library.